Virginia Age of Consent Laws 2019

What is the Virginia Age of Consent?

The Virginia Age of Consent is 18 years old. In the United States, the age of consent is the minimum age at which an individual is considered legally old enough to consent to participation in sexual activity. Individuals aged 17 or younger in Virginia are not legally able to consent to sexual activity, and such activity may result in prosecution for statutory rape.

Virginia statutory rape law is violated when a person has consensual sexual intercourse with an individual under age 18. A close in age exemption exists that allows teens aged 15-17 to engage in sexual congress with each other, and minors 13-15 to do the same.

Virginia has a close-in-age exemption. A close in age exemption, also known as "Romeo and Juliet law", is designed to prevent the prosecution of underage couples who engage in consensual sex when both participants are significantly close in age to each other, and one or both are below the age of consent.

Depending on the situation, the Virginia close-in-age exemption may completely exempt qualifying close-in-age couples from the age of consent law, or merely provide a legal defence that can be used in the event of prosecution.

Age of Consent across the United States

The Age of Consent ranges state-by-state from 16 to 18 years old across the United States. Click the map to view any state's age of consent laws.

Age Of Consent:

16 years old

17 years old

18 years old

Punishments for Violating the Age Of Consent in Virginia

Virginia has nine statutory sexual abuse charges on the books which are used to prosecute age of consent and child abuse related crimes within the state. One or more of these charges may be used to prosecute violations of the Virginia Age of Consent, as statutory rape or the Virginia equivalent of that charge.

The severity of the criminal charge (felony, misdemeanor, etc) depends on the specifics of the acts committed and the relative ages of the perpetrator and victim. Click any charge for more detailed information.

AgeOfConsent.net is a free public resource site, and cannot offer legal advice. All information provided AS-IS with no warranty of accuracy.
If you are a victim of sexual assault or statutory rape, call the 24-hour RAINN help hotline at 800-656-HOPE